The volume of Hong Kong's total goods exports and goods imports increased by 32 percent and 24.4 percent respectively in the first quarter of 2021 compared to the same period in 2020, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government announced on Thursday.

The Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) of the HKSAR government released the latest volume and price statistics of external merchandise trade, showing that the volume of Hong Kong's total goods exports and goods imports increased by 23.4 percent and 19.8 percent respectively in March 2021 over March 2020.

Comparing the first quarter of 2021 with the fourth quarter of 2020 on a seasonally adjusted basis, the volume of total goods exports and goods imports increased by 17.9 percent and 12.9 percent respectively.

Liang Haiming, a Hong Kong economist and Chairman of China Silk Road iValley Research Institute, said that both of Hong Kong's latest goods exports and imports volumes climbed over 20 percent year on year, showing Hong Kong has benefited from the mainland's economic recovery.

Furthermore, the significant improvement of the economy in Asia, coupled with last year's low base, have contributed to the sharp increase in Hong Hong's imports and exports, Liang said.

Yang Yuchuan, a professor with the Hong Kong Financial Services Institute, said that the strong increase in Hong Kong's imports and exports was due to the rapid control of the epidemic and a quick recovery of the economy in the mainland, leading to a surging demand for imports.

Liang expected Hong Kong's imports and exports will continue to increase by double digits in the next few months, and the territory's economic growth in the first and second quarters will mainly be driven by foreign trade.

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